Do you eat your exercise calories earned?

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Replies

  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
    If I don't eat them back, I don't lose weight, it's as simple as that. If I have my deficit over 1000 calories, my body refuses to drop any weight at all, most times I end up gaining weight.
  • roduk
    roduk Posts: 43 Member
    technically you are supposed to eat back your calories burnt by exercise. MFP takes deducts your daily calorie amount from your activity level you selected and the amount of weight you plan to lose each week. I always made the mistake of thinking well i train every day so i must be really active, dont do this. choose what you do for your job not exercise. if in doubt chose sedentary its what most people will be.

    its up to you whether you want to exercise, one thing it does allow you to eat more :).
    If you dont eat back your calories you burnt you are starving you body of essential nutrients that will have been lost through exercise.

    you may also end up losing weight at an unsafe rate. If you want to lose weight at a faster rate you'd be better off dialling in a higher lbs per week to lose than not eating back cals.
  • sniper266
    sniper266 Posts: 1 Member
    I am new to calorie counting, I have used pro point before and I was encouraged to eat the the pro points I had earned by excercising, so I am going to convert the calories I have earned and see how it goes!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    No Sweetheart,
    do not do that if you do, its like exercising for nothing. You should eat your calculated calories for the day only,
    meaning what your body would burn without any exercise. then workout to reduce that counting daily calories. Exc; My natural calorie daily is 2140, so I eat 2140 exercise 1400 calories. This gives me -740 for the day, not bad. Aprox. 3500 calories to a pound of fat. On a five day workout week I've been losing around 1.5lbs per week. Hope this all helps.

    Your calc is off as you would already lose weight on 2140 (depending on your goal) I will assume you set it for 2 lbs/week, so what you are doing would lead to a loss of 3.5 lbs/week, which is only a safe amount if you have 150+ lbs to lose, for those with less than 75 lbs to go even 2lbs/week can be too fast.
  • FITnFIRM4LIFE
    FITnFIRM4LIFE Posts: 818 Member
    I just started, so I know im not really one to give advice. But so far im not eating the extra calories I burn because I figure Id be eating everything i just exercised off, you know? Just a thought because im trying to do lose the same. Good Luck! =)

    You need to change your though process and relationship with food if this is how you feel. You need to look at it as fueling your workout, and fueling your day to day activity instead.

    Agree! The way you view and focus on food and exercise will greatly impact your overall weight goals and maintenance:-) Good luck, Food is not the enemy:-)
  • FITnFIRM4LIFE
    FITnFIRM4LIFE Posts: 818 Member
    I am new to calorie counting, I have used pro point before and I was encouraged to eat the the pro points I had earned by excercising, so I am going to convert the calories I have earned and see how it goes!

    Off topic...Funny profile pic;-) above poster
  • zumbaa45
    zumbaa45 Posts: 5
    I see your point, but your ALREADY eating less amount of calories according to your goal. I eat LESS than my exercise calories but i do eat most of them because of the fuel it gives me. i work out twice a day & have lost 60lbs and it works great for me!
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    For me, I've decided to start exercising...just so I can eat more. I've been at 1200 a day..and it is hard to keep that up and I don't think I'll make it if I can't eat more. I'm adding exercise to my routine and upping my calorie intake to 1400.

    I like the one posters routine of eating back on the days she doesn't work out. To me, that makes sense because you can keep your body guessing --

    so many people post about how they work out like crazy and don't lose... so I think it is a balancing act..and very personal.

    Do what works for you...just try out different things.
  • michelejoann
    michelejoann Posts: 295 Member
    Numbers, numbers, numbers...I just did a little math and have determined that I probably am losing 1 pound a week. Eh. All that matters to me is that smaller pants are fitting me now, and that my male friends think I'm kind of a hottie now. If I'm losing 1 pound a week x 52 weeks = yay! I'm losing 52 pounds. In a year. Sounds good to me!

    And also, I'm agreeing with keeping your body guessing. I kind of slacked on working out for a while and just ate less, and that was pissing me off because I was hungry, so I put exercise back in, and voila! Losing again! I do a tread mill and I will spike my brisk walk on it with different grades, and will randomly pop it up in speed and then back down. At that point my body is like WTF and confused, but it's working for me. Once your body settles, it slows down. Gotta keep it guessing!
  • sexikc
    sexikc Posts: 153 Member
    I try to eat some of them...some days I do eat all of them but I dont like doing that becasue I dont have a heart rate monitor so Idk how accurate these calories burned are...In many cases I have worked out a lot longer than I post becasue I dont want to overstate my calories.

    I would eat them always if I felt it was accurate. Your body needs fuel to function. Some people have their bodies tryin to function off of basically nothing.
  • WhatHayleyEats
    WhatHayleyEats Posts: 42
    I actually don't! In my PERSONAL opinion (no attacks please) I don't see the point in working hard to burn off what you've eaten, only to eat it all back again. I want to lose weight healthily, yes, but also quickly. I don't want to be even-stevens about it.

    It's not even-stevens though, because by coming on here and having a set calorie goal to lose weight, even if you add exercise and eat those calories back, your net calories are still at the level for weight loss.

    I appreciate your opinion, but like I said, the way I have been eating and exercising has been working VERY well for me.
  • WhatHayleyEats
    WhatHayleyEats Posts: 42
    I actually don't! In my PERSONAL opinion (no attacks please) I don't see the point in working hard to burn off what you've eaten, only to eat it all back again. I want to lose weight healthily, yes, but also quickly. I don't want to be even-stevens about it.

    Quickly is usually not healthy (large loss of lean muscle alone with fat)

    I am losing between 1 and 2 pounds a week. For me this is quick and I am very happy with my progress. I am MUCH fitter than I used to be and much healthier. I can do things I never could before, I am sleeping better, it takes much more effort to get me out of breath, my calf muscles and upper arm muscles are rock hard, my waist is becoming more defined. I am very happy with the way I am dieting and exercising.
  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 639 Member
    I eat some back, the rest I bank for weekend binging. This works because I don't gain weight from the weekends.
  • thegreatest99
    thegreatest99 Posts: 6
    well i tried not to for 3 weeks and i have gained weight since then so im eating 2/3 of it and leaving the 1/3 if i have made a mistake in calorie counting bc i cook for the whole family and that means estimating calorie intake.
  • rfsatar
    rfsatar Posts: 599 Member
    I worked out my RMR, BMR and TDEE and I try and eat back enough of my exercise/FitBit adjusted cals to hit a 15-20% deficit of my TDEE.
    As an absolute minimum I am always looking to make sure I have eaten at least my BMR ideally.

    I find it tends to even itself out.
    I've lost half a stone, since I started ... So whilst progress has been slow, it has made a marked difference already with people noticing I have lost weight - so ... win!
  • kingscrown
    kingscrown Posts: 615 Member
    My trainer says not to eat them unless I'm hungry. So, 99 percent of the time I don't. Every now and then I just got to eat more that day.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If your activity is set to sedentary then you SHOULD log and eat back your exercise calories.
    It is the net calories per day that is the key to weight loss/maintenance/gain.

    My calories burnt various enormously from day to day so would make no sense to eat the same amout each day.

    Whatever you do, be consistent and re-assess after a period like a month and adjust to get the desired results.
  • Sick_Beard
    Sick_Beard Posts: 407 Member
    <---- The proof is in the pudding....I eat every single calorie
  • tubbyelmo
    tubbyelmo Posts: 415 Member
    I eat about 1/2 and stick them in a saving account for Sunday;-) I have been eating at maintenance for over a year.

    I love your picture, made me smile! :bigsmile:
  • sueb12345678
    sueb12345678 Posts: 41 Member
    I try not to as i feel i have work't really hard for them calories..
    On the days i lift i eat back half my exercise calories....
  • gjulie
    gjulie Posts: 391
    I try to stick to 1500 cals no matter what Im doing I try to burn 500 cals from exercise every day ,dosnt always happen,lol but I spread it out over 6 small meals Ive lost 26lbs since April so Im happy with that,if Im really hungry I eat!:happy:
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    I don't - I just eat a reasonable amount to try to ensure an overall deficit for a grown man.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    Either use the search function before posting this question or http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/index1.html END OF DISCUSSION
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    I am eating at my BMR (1550) so I do eat all of my exercise calories back. On the other hand, I have myself at sedentary, and I do some walking at work (and sometimes pushups on the bathroom sinks but we won't talk about that), so I count that as my buffer toward underestimation of food and overestimation of exercise. It has worked perfectly for me. A pound a week without issues which I find rather miraculous with how close I am to my goal.
  • hendinerik
    hendinerik Posts: 287 Member
    Yes, but I don't stress if it doesn't happen. I just look at my net remaining calories including exercise.

    The problem is that it's hard to be 100% accurate with exercise calories... some days I think I have burned more, some days less then what is in the system... but my target is at 1840 calories, so with some exercise my target is fairly comfortable unless I'm not eating well. In the end even with estimates it works out if I am generally eating well with enough protein and exercising.
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
    I actually don't! In my PERSONAL opinion (no attacks please) I don't see the point in working hard to burn off what you've eaten, only to eat it all back again. I want to lose weight healthily, yes, but also quickly. I don't want to be even-stevens about it.

    That said, however, if I'm really hungry after a day of hard exercise then I do eat something. But this is rare for me because I make sure I get plenty of stomach-filling protein into my meals. And doing this, I lost 9lbs in 3 weeks and half a dress size!

    It is completely up to you, though. You do what feels right for your body. Above all, don't let yourself starve.
    The more you exert yourself, the more fuel you need.

    It's that simple.
  • xxmishellyxx
    xxmishellyxx Posts: 27
    I don't eat back my calories. I go by how my body feels. My body will let me know if I need food. Otherwise I find it is too easy to think we have burned more than we actually have and therefor end up over eating back and staying the same weight or gaining

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